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Stalking: Victims
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Stalking was at one time rarely addressed as a problem on campus. However, with the recent introduction of anti-stalking legislation, college and university administrators are beginning to acknowledge the gravity of this type of violence. Some campuses are teaming up with local and regional law enforcement to learn about stalking laws, which vary from state to state, and how to develop and implement anti-stalking policies and programs on campus. Campuses are ... working to increase perpetrators’ accountability for stalking behaviors, and providing services, including counseling, for those who have been victimized by stalkers.
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Stalking is the term used to describe repeated harassing or threatening behavior toward another person. A stalker can be a stranger or someone the victim knows including a partner, an ex-partner, or a family member. Laws vary by state, but stalking is generally considered to be any unwanted contact between a stalker and his/her victim that directly or indirectly communicates a threat or places the victim in fear. Anyone can be a victim of stalking. Stalkers can be former intimate partners, strangers, or acquaintances.
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Stalking has now taken a turn into cyberspace on the information superhighway. Although there is no universally accepted definition of cyberstalking, the term is generally used to refer to the use of the Internet, e-mail, or other telecommunication technologies to harass or stalk another person. Essentially, cyberstalking is an extension of the physical form of stalking. Most state and federal stalking laws require that the stalker make a direct threat of violence against the victim, while some require only that the alleged stalker's course of conduct constitute an implied threat. Although some cyberstalking conduct involving annoying or menacing behavior might fall short of illegal stalking under current laws, such behavior may be a prelude to real-life stalking and violence and should be treated seriously. Cyberstalking has the potential to move from a URL address to an IRL (in real life) address--from virtual to actual (Gregorie 2000).
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Stalking can be charged either as a misdemeanor or a felony. If the stalking charge is a first-time offense, without aggravating factors, the charge is likely to be considered a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in county jail. Second-time stalking offenses with the same victim and some aggravating factors would be considered a felony, punishable by up to five years in state prison.
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Stalking is likely to be related to psychological or psychiatric abnormalities. Every sample (collected by mental health professionals) contain a significant proportion with mental illnesses, a personality disorder or both. Mental illness is common, and all diagnoses are possible, mainly substance misuse, schizophrenia, delusional disorders such as jealousy, erotomania, persecutory delusions, or morbid infatuations, and mood disorders. Some stalking is related to psychosis (usually delusions and or hallucinations occurring with a loss of contact with reality), the content of which is usually about the activities and motives of the victim. Personality disorders are ... commonly found.
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Stalking creeps into a victim’s life. Too often, by the time anyone begins paying serious attention to the stalker, he has already escalated to dangerous behaviors. Myths tend to minimize the seriousness of stalking behavior and it is important to know the difference between the myths and the facts.
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